Director of Manufacturing Operations

Job Title: Director, Manufacturing Operations – California (Multi-site)

Location: Gardena, California

About The Company

IPS Corporation is a global, market-leading provider of solvent cements, adhesives, and specialized plumbing products. Founded in 1954 in Los Angeles, CA, IPS began by producing clear cements for laminating acrylic sheet for aircraft canopies. Today, IPS, with its three operating companies, has nine manufacturing plants and nine distribution centers supporting sales to a diverse set of end markets in 85 countries.

Weld-On Adhesives, the largest subsidiary of IPS Corporation, is the pioneer and leading manufacturer of Weld-On solvent cements, primers, and cleaners for PVC, CPVC, ABS and other plastic piping systems. Weld-On products are globally recognized as the premium products for joining plastic pipes and fittings and are used by professional installers around the world in a variety of applications such as, but not limited to, construction (residential & commercial), industrial (chemical process, water treatment, mining, etc.), irrigation (landscaping & agricultural) and others. Headquartered in California, Weld-On has operations throughout the United States, as well as China, and a worldwide network of sales representatives and distributors.

Position Summary

As the Director of Manufacturing, you will be the driving force behind our manufacturing operations, leveraging your manufacturing expertise to lead high-performing teams in delivering excellence in production, quality and efficiency. This role is designed for a leader with a robust manufacturing and production foundation, who can elevate our manufacturing capabilities and support our mission of delivering the highest quality products. You’ll shape the future of our production capabilities by optimizing end-to-end processes, maintaining rigorous quality standards, and implementing strategic initiatives that foster innovation and flawless execution. With a focus on operational leadership, team development, and cross-functional collaboration, your role will be instrumental in advancing our global manufacturing operations.

Reporting to the Vice President of Operations, the Director, Manufacturing Operations, will oversee Weld-On’s largest manufacturing facility, including production, inventory control, shipping/receiving, sourcing, and overall materials management to ensure customer satisfaction and growth, and oversee our Warehouse/Distribution leadership of three additional facilities located in California. He/she will be working closely with Procurement, Sales, Marketing, Business Systems leaders, and Customer Service to minimize / solve production issues or concerns. This position leads activities associated with the development and implementation of lean manufacturing techniques; maintains a good understanding of business and financial metrics; refines operational best practices & KPIs within the facility and improves performance against them. Specifically, this role will analyze manufacturing operations, supply chain and distribution channels and effectiveness, procurement practices and all talent metrics to ensure value creation opportunities throughout the entire value-stream.

Additionally, the Director, Manufacturing Operations will play a vital role in fostering an enterprise-wide customer centricity supported by operational systems and continuous improvement processes that not only optimize manufacturing efficiencies through safe work areas, disciplined inventory management and process improvements but the overall customer experience in areas such as quality, on-time delivery, etc. This individual will need to roll up his/her sleeves immediately to impact the business and be an effective change agent and be an advocate for “going to Gemba”. The Director, Manufacturing Operations, will be transparent, trustworthy, and inspire and lead the team by example. The successful candidate will be a strong, mature business leader who values input and opportunity; possesses superior communication and interpersonal skills; and has a verifiable track record of improving operations and manufacturing processes yielding quantifiable results in the areas of process/machine/layout optimization, 5S and safety, and improved execution are competencies essential to succeeding in this role.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement long-term operations strategy to create sustainable SQDIP improvements that benefit stakeholders and customers.
• Quickly possess a comprehensive understanding of Weld-On’s manufacturing and distribution operations-- organization design, production capacity, efficiency, quality, planning, warehousing and team capabilities.
• Oversee daily production operations and Key Performance Indicators (Safety, Quality, Delivery, Inventory, Productivity) while containing costs and adhering to budget in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Evaluate the maintainability, operability and efficiency of our California rooftops.
• Review current and historical data to understand efficiency & capacity, including equipment conditions, maintenance logs, spare parts, materials management, and detailed production numbers.
• Provide shop floor insights by talking with employees and customers and reviewing all available data.
• Identify potential cost improvement opportunities through lean improvements, outsourcing or consolidation of facilities.
• Develop transformation plans to drive proposed changes and identify key risks and mitigation strategies.
• Share best practices for meeting global product needs with other sites.
• In conjunction with senior staff, develop the annual plan and forecasts.
• Drive a culture of problem solving and continuous improvement. Implement process improvements across all aspects of operations and ensures that appropriate lean tools are being used (e.g. PSP, VSM, standard work, pull systems, SMED, variance reduction, etc.) to maximize productivity and throughput while minimizing lead-time and WIP.
• Articulate clear plant, department and individual goals that help fortify a culture of transparency, fairness and accountability. Supervise and evaluate performance of production associates and take corrective action as needed.
• Implement and oversee the quality of deliverables and effectively manage the team and day-to-day relationships to ensure exceptional performance.
• Develop and manage the team, including talent development, performance management and labor management.
• Maintain a safe work environment that meets OSHA and environmental requirements.
• Lead, develop, and manage direct reports responsible for Materials Management, EHS & Safety, Production Supervisors, Maintenance, and Warehouse Management.
• Maintain an employee-friendly environment that reflects the company values.
  
  

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, MBA or Master’s degree preferred
• 7 to 10 years of leadership experience including career progression in manufacturing operations.
• Demonstrated business acumen and a thorough understanding of what comprises a strong P&L.
• Bilingual: English/Spanish
• Ability to indirectly influence in order to achieve measurable results
• Proven track record of delivering results in a high-performance continuous improvement environment
• Self-directed with a high sense of urgency and organized
• Driven by high expectations to deliver results and not “activity”
• Effectively articulates issues, facilitates their resolution and reports results orally and in writing to multiple levels in the organization
• Demonstrated knowledge of a variety of TPS/Lean tools including but not limited to: PSP (Paretos, RCCM, 5-Why’s, Action plans), VSM, Standard Work, Pull Systems, SIOP, Daily Management, 5S, Visual Management, 3P, SMED, Transactional Process Improvement, Variation Reduction Kaizen, etc. Danaher companies’ experience highly preferred.
• Fluency in MS Office, including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Familiarity with ERP systems
  
  

IPS is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, and veteran or disability status.

Salary Range: $200,000 - $240,000